kvmb Chapter 259 Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 259 Unexpected Visitor
After returning to Hexi Village, Luo Xiaoran told her family to have a unified story regarding the disappearance of Chen'er and Niu Dan.
They told others that a relative came and took the two of them out to play two days ago, and Luo Xiaoran brought her brother back today.
As for why Chen'er didn't go home with them, Luo Xiaoran thought about it and explained to everyone the fact that she and Chen'er were not siblings, and that Chen'er was indeed taken away by his relatives.
Aunt Ji felt sorry after hearing this, and murmured, "They are not related. Master Chen'er obviously looks a lot like the young lady..."
In fact, Luo Xiaoran and Xiao Xingchen do not look alike, but their looks are both outstanding, so in Aunt Ji's eyes, they look alike.
Niu Dan also just found out that Chen'er was not his sister's biological brother. He vaguely remembered that his sister and Chen'er were together when they were fleeing famine, and naturally he never thought that they were not biological siblings.
"Niu Dan, you saw that the place we stayed last night was Chen Er's new home. His background is quite complicated. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I have never told everyone that he and I are not blood relatives.
Although you two are not related to me by blood, in my heart, you are my brothers and very important people. No matter if we live together or not, no matter if we will be separated or not, I hope you will be well. "
After listening to Luo Xiaoran's words, Niu Dan nodded heavily.
I will be fine, and I hope Chen'er will be fine with his family!
"Also, you must remember what your sister told you on the way back."
"Don't worry, sister. I know the severity of the situation."
On the way back to Hexi Village from Yizhou, Luo Xiaoran reminded Niu Dan of two things.
First, the fact that he and Chen'er were kidnapped should not be made public.
After all, the story of the county magistrate kidnapping children and digging out their hearts to make elixirs was too absurd. It was not certain whether anyone would believe it if it got to An Luhai's ears and led him to do something desperate.
Since Li Heng has already determined that An Luhai will be purged by Princess Qingyi, then they will just have to wait and see what happens to An Luhai!
Second, don’t reveal Chen’er’s background to anyone.
In fact, Niu Dan didn’t know Chen’er’s true background, and he didn’t know that the place he slept last night was Prince Yan’s Mansion.
But the Prince of Yan's Mansion is a prince's mansion after all, and the courtyards and houses are of a design that ordinary people have never seen before. Niu Dan had stayed there for a whole night, so he must have some guesses in his mind. That's why Luo Xiaoran told him not to let his imagination run wild and not to talk about it to others.
Of all the people, Qiu Niang was the most disappointed.
If Luo Xiaoran is Qiu Niang's spiritual pillar, then Luo Xingchen is the center of her life.
Every day, she takes care of this child who has shared hardships with her since they fled from famine, and her barren heart always retains a glimmer of life.
"It was Uncle Li who took Chen'er away, right?" When they were the only two left, Qiu Niang approached Luo Xiaoran and asked.
"Yes, Uncle Li is Chen'er's relative after all. He wants to take Chen'er away, and I have no reason to stop him." Luo Xiaoran said the truth, but she said half of it and kept the other half hidden.
Chen'er's background is too sensitive, and not letting Qiu Niang know is also for Qiu Niang's safety.
After receiving Luo Xiaoran's affirmative answer, Qiu Niang gave a weak smile, and then, as if she had thought of something, she grabbed Luo Xiaoran's hand and asked:
"So where do they live now? Are they leaving the North? Will we ever see them again?"
Luo Xiaoran patted Qiu Niang's hand to comfort her.
"As you know, Uncle Li is very good at martial arts. You can tell at a glance that he is not an ordinary person. Now that he has found an old friend in Yizhou, he is living with Chen'er. We still have a chance to see them again.
It's just that due to some special reasons, we should not go to see them for the time being. Let's wait a few days."
Qiu Niang nodded. In fact, she could sense that Xiao Ran was hiding something from her about Uncle Li and Chen Er, but since Xiao Ran didn't want her to know, she wouldn't get to the bottom of it.
……
Suddenly there was one less person in the family, and everyone was a little uncomfortable with it. However, it happened to be the autumn harvest time, and everyone in the family was busy, which to some extent alleviated the discomfort.
The cellar was filled with newly harvested grain, which gave Luo Xiaoran a great sense of security.
The persimmon cakes were made a few days ago, and Niu Dan finally ate the "sweet persimmon cakes that my sister made last year" that Chen'er described to him.
"Sister, Chen'er also likes to eat persimmon cakes. Should we give him some?" Niu Dan asked Luo Xiaoran before eating the persimmon cakes.
Luo Xiaoran thought for a while, then shook her head, "Forget it this time, let's do it later!"
At least, we have to wait until Princess Qingyi leaves the northern border.
The newly harvested mung beans look great, and it would be a shame not to make some mung bean cakes, so Luo Xiaoran took people to the kitchen to get busy.
The mung beans had been soaked last night in order to make it easier to peel them. This was a somewhat tedious task, so Luo Xiaoran called Qiu Niang, Ruyi and Niu Dan to the kitchen to help.
Aunt Ji, whose cooking skills improved under Luo Xiaoran's guidance, escaped the disaster because she went to the apple orchard to take care of the chickens with Uncle Xiang.
"Yes! The secret is just one word - rub! Rub off all the mung bean skins, don't throw them away, collect them and feed them to the chickens."
While Luo Xiaoran was leisurely checking the soybean oil that had just been squeezed out this year, she was directing three people to peel the mung beans.
Ever since she squeezed out the first jar of soybean oil in the oil mill, the people of Hexi Village seemed to have opened the door to a new world and began to follow her example. For a time, almost every household was able to eat the oil that they could not afford before.
"What's wrong with Miss Luo's brain? How did she come up with the idea of using soybeans to extract oil?"
"Who says it's not true? Rapeseed oil is too expensive, and ordinary people like us really can't afford it! Now it's good, the soybeans we grow at home can be pressed for oil, and we can afford to eat oil."
"Besides, I can take the dregs home to feed the pigs. After paying the oil pressing fee, I can have oil to eat and the dregs won't be wasted. How great!"
……
Because of the soybean oil incident, the villagers of Hexi Village reached a new level of respect for Luo Xiaoran, which made Luo Xiaoran very ashamed, not to mention that the extraction of sesame oil later brought new shock to the villagers.
After this autumn harvest, Luo Xiaoran added a new oil product, corn oil, which also caused a trend.
After Qiu Niang and the others peeled the mung beans, Luo Xiaoran instructed Ruyi to put the peeled mung beans in a steamer and steam them over high heat until they were soft, then took them out and stirred them into a fine mung bean paste.
Then pour a proper amount of sesame oil into a large iron pot, add the mung bean paste and sugar and stir-fry over low heat. After taking it out of the pot, let it cool down and put it into a mold to set.
Thanks to sesame oil, Luo Xiaoran's kitchen was filled with an enticing aroma during the entire process of making mung bean cake.
In addition, the kitchen of Luo's house is close to the gate. If someone is passing by the gate of Luo's house at this moment, he will definitely smell this sweet aroma.
But Luo Xiaoran never expected that someone would come to her at this moment.
When she heard someone knocking on the door, Luo Xiaoran couldn't help but wonder, was he attracted by the aroma of the mung bean cake?